Get Off Your Lazy Ass - Using the iPhone to Better Yourself

How to use your iPhone to improve your health, become more organized, learn new skills, and, dare we say, become a better person.

Your iPhone or iPod touch is an entertainer, communicator, and some might even say friend. And while it’s OK to harbor such warm and fuzzy feelings--as long as you don’t try to make out with it--your device can also crack its virtual whip to, well, make you a better person. With the right apps, you can turn it into a drill sergeant, teacher, and personal assistant. Whether you’re expanding your horizons for New Year’s resolutions or just catching up on old goals, the iPhone can be your guide.

We’ve picked our favorite apps to help improve your health and organization. Be a better biker, task manager, and more. We’ve also selected great apps to teach you new things and introduce hobbies. Pick and choose apps of interest, or just dive into our full list. Whatever your approach, we have a new title for the iPhone: Life Coach.

Get Fit

Skip, jump, and run into shape. These apps improve your workouts and track your health along the way.

Run Through the Nike+ Ecosystem

Runners have good reason to hop on the Nike + iPod bandwagon. The iPhone 3GS and the second- and third-gen iPod touch can receive data from the wireless Nike + iPod Sensor ($19, www.apple.com) in your supported Nike shoes. A helpful voice interrupts your workout music to give progress updates, and after you connect your iPhone 3GS or iPod touch to iTunes again, the details of your run (distance, time, and so on) are uploaded to nikerunning.com.

The iPhone 3GS and second- and third-gen iPod touch can interface with the Nike+ sensor.

Get started by calibrating your sensor to take your stride into account. If you live near a running track, football field, or some other environment where run-length is easy to figure out, you’re all set. Just enter the distance you’ll run in the calibration area, and the Nike+ pedometer will divide your total strides by its length. Run at your regular pace, and keep in mind that longer total distances produce better calibration than short ones.

If you don’t have running distances available beforehand, just visit gmap-pedometer.com and zoom into your location. Click Start Recording, and double-click each point along a several-block route. Aim for a distance of about half a mile. When your route is plotted, enter the specific distance into the Nike+ calibration prompt on your device, and then head out to run your route and calibrate your pedometer.

The sensor costs $19 at the Apple Online Store.

While Nike’s system is strong, a few third parties have added improvements. If you don’t wear Nikes, for example, the Shoe Pouch ($9.99, www.grantwoodtechnology.com) will attach your Nike+ sensor to any pair of running shoes. And you can delve deeper into your stats with the free, donation-supported Running Tracker (runningtracker.tuxfamily.org) and Neki++ (neki.sourceforge.net), alternatives to the Nike+ website.

Heart to Heart

Tracking your heart rate during workouts can lead to better cardiovascular training and a more accurate idea of calories burned. iTMP’s Digifit Connect ($79.95, www.digifit.me) bridges the signal from any off-the-shelf heart monitor chest straps that support the ANT+ (www.thisisant.com) wireless signal. It’ll even work with scales, blood pressure monitors, and other ANT+ devices.

Once you’re all equipped, the system can interface with free iPhone apps tailored to biking (iBiker), spinning indoors (iSpinner), running (iRunner), and general exercise (iCardio). You can push yourself to keep your heart in a certain target zone, knowing that you’re improving your health. Or use it to avoid training too hard.

Bike Basics

You’ll need a kit to mount the iPhone to your bike’s handlebars before you can safely ride. We found a couple flimsier-looking options online, but we’re holding out for the BikeLogic Bike Mount from Dahon ($59, www.dahon.com), which should be out about the time you read this. Its weatherproof seal will keep out rain and any other debris.

One of our favorite bike-related iPhone apps, the Bike Computer (free, www.everytrail.com) tracks your speed, altitude, distance, and more, thanks to the GPS built into the iPhone 3G and 3GS. If you have a phone signal, you can view your progress on a map. Or just wait until you get home and sync your ride data to EveryTrail online.

Wait, Weight, Don't Tell Me

The WiFi Body Scale ($159, www.withings.com) makes weighing in an interesting, simple process. First you’ll set up the Wi-Fi scale with its free WiScale iPhone app or with your Mac. Then step on to see your weight in pounds or kilograms. If you enter your age and height, the scale also tracks your body mass index. Even better, it can estimate your total body fat when you stand on the conductive glass surface with your bare feet.

Smarter than your average bathroom scale.

All of these details hold our interest on their own, but the WiScale app graphs your data over time. You can track goals in any of the scale’s measurements or just look back to see how Thanksgiving affected your physique. The scale’s accuracy can vary based on the time of day and other conditions--it scored us leaner when our feet were damp after a shower. But the general trends can help you keep a grip on your love handles.

While individual measurements vary by day, you can find trends over time.

Breathe. Breathe in the Air

Finish your workout with deep breathing, or use the technique to enhance your yoga and stretching. BreathPacer ($2.99, www.larvalabs.com) helps you get centered and could improve your lung capacity. Presets show you how long to breathe in and out based on your height; you just match the audio cues or simple onscreen animation. We felt more relaxed after just a minute. And you can increase breathing times--including how long to hold your breath--to improve your health from the inside out.